And now for something completely silly: Monty Python star trots into Houston

And now for something completely silly: Monty Python visits Houston

Monty Python fans will get to see one of their heroes at Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land, with an appearance by Python co-founder John Cleese, who will engage conversation and audience Q&A on April 5. Tickets go on sale at 10 am, Friday, December 8. VIP tickets will be available which include a (hopefully silly) photo opportunity.

For those hoping to interact with the Python legend, a release calls for "absurd and/or ridiculous questions only, please."

Cleese will tell stories of his life and career, and screen Monty Python and the Holy Grail in its entirety on the big screen.

Monty Python's Flying Circus, a sketch comedy show that combined animation and absurdist routines, first aired on London's BBC in 1969. Its subsequent airing on PBS made it a cult classic in America for many years.

Cleese is making appearances around the country screening the film, which he describes as a survival of the fittest. "The whole thing was made on $400,000, and it was so uncomfortable shooting in Scotland in April because it rained all the time," he says.

He recently appeared locally alongside Python castmate, Eric Idle, at the University of Houston last year.

On the small screen, Cleese is known for his work on programs such as Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Will & Grace, and the Emmy-nominated TLC documentary The Human Face with John Cleese.

Film credits include Silverado, The Out-of-Towners, Rat Race, and Kenneth Branagh's Frankenstein.

He has also co-authored two books on psychology — Families and How to Survive Them and Life and How to Survive It — and recently completed his autobiography So, Anyway…

According to his bio, "In his twilight years, John passes his time writing film scripts, giving speeches to business audiences, doing seminars on creativity, teaching at Cornell, paying alimony, and doting on three huge cats and a fish."

The show is from The Backlot Project, which claims to bring the most beloved stars of television and film from the screen to an exciting and intimate live setting. Backlot's release oddly doesn't mention that Cleese wrote and starred in A Fish Called Wanda, whose screenplay was nominated for an Oscar. It also doesn't mention Fawlty Towers, another BBC series Cleese wrote and starred in, which made its way onto American public television and achieved cult status.

Tickets go on sale at 10 am, Friday, December 8. For tickets and information, click here.